The game of chicken between the US and North Korea continues as the US sent two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers across the Korean peninsula. Those bombers left from the US base at Guam and and capable of delivering nuclear bombs. The message to North Korea was clear, and they responded through the North Korean News Agency:
“What merits a serious attention is that such military game is underway when Trump and other U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike at the DPRK day after day.
“The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war.
“The army of the DPRK is keenly watching the military movement of the U.S. imperialists, fully ready to react to all forms of war they will opt for with a powerful nuclear treasured sword for self-defence.
The situation became a little muddier after US President Trump said that he would be “honored” to meet with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, “under the right circumstances”. The US has never recognized the country and what circumstances would justify such a meeting are difficult to imagine. The growing war drumbeat is disconcerting, and we should be using our imagination to figure out a way out of this impasse. One possibility, not discussed by many in the US at all, is for the US to pull entirely out of South Korea. Such a move would be difficult given the history of the US-South Korean alliance, but it is a policy that might be the solution to the crisis.
B-1B Lancer Bomber
The Pew Research Center regularly asks Americans questions about what determines whether a person is rich or poor. The results of the poll are striking:
“The public overall is about evenly divided over which has more to do with why a person is rich: 45% say it is because he or she worked harder than most people, while 43% say it is because they had more advantages in life than others, according to a survey conducted April 5-11 among 1,501 U.S. adults. Opinion has shifted modestly on this question: In both 2015 and 2014, more attributed a person’s wealth to greater advantages than to a stronger work ethic.”
Interestingly, there is a sharp division on the answer to this question between Republicans and Democrats.
There are also some very interesting differences because of income and gender.
After 6 months of haggling, Greece and elements of the European Union have reached an agreement for the release of funds to allow Greece to repay 7.5 billion euros of debt that comes due in July. In return for this money, Greece has promised to reduce pensions even more and to lower the threshold for not paying taxes in Greece. The terms are onerous, but in the absence of the 7.5 billion euro, Greece would be forced to default on its debt. A default would likely bring several international banks to their knees. The Greeks are hoping that by agreeing to these terms a certain percentage of their debt will be “forgiven”, a concession that the IMF believes is necessary since Greece currently owes 179% of its GDP, an amount impossible to repay. I fear that the Greeks will be sorely disappointed.
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